Historic Brisbane home to be transformed for exec townhouse complex

A Brisbane home built in the late 1800s will be restored to its former glory to form the centrepiece of an executive townhouse complex.

Developers have reunited two former residents of one of Brisbane’s oldest surviving homes, revealing links to a former Premier and a prestigious private school.

Kaieta, a grand Queenslander style home on Union Street, Taringa, was built on around 2.5 acres in the late 1800s by William Scott, a public servant, before it was purchased in 1914 by a neighbour, former Premier Sir Robert Philp, as a gift for his daughter, Jessie “Blanche” Philp, following her marriage to Robert Henderson.

Over the next 64 years the couple raised three children at Kaieta, including their son, RAAF Sergeant Observer Robert Henderson, who was killed in action in World War II.

The couple’s niece, Prue Firth, recently compared notes and swapped stories with another of the home’s owners, Dr John Drewe.

Works are underway to restore Kaieta. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Ms Firth lived at Kaieta with Blanche for two years in the late 1960s after Mr Henderson’s death.

“The house was divided in two and I had a flat on one side which I shared at various times with others, including my sister, and my aunt lived on the other side” Ms Firth said.

“My aunt loved sitting on the balcony in the sun, and in the summer she would sleep on the veranda.

“It was such a beautiful home.”

Kaieta is set to be restored and will become the centrepiece of an executive townhouse complex. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Upon Mrs Henderson’s death, the home was sold in 1978 to Dr Drewe and his wife, Elizabeth, who renovated Kaieta and left their own leafy mark on Taringa’s history.

“Many of the Moreton Bay Gums in Oakman Park on Moggill Rd started out in pots on Kaieta’s veranda,” Dr Drewe said.

“Once they got too big for the pots we planted and watered them, and they’re still there today.”

The Drewe family raised four children in Kaieta and operated a GP practice from a downstairs room for 19 years, before selling the home in 1997 to Dr Drewe‘s former secondary school, the neighbouring Brisbane Boy’s College.

Cameron Feltham, Dr John Drewe and Prue Firth in front of Kaieta. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The school repurposed the home as an on-campus Headmaster residence for the next 23 years, before selling it to developer Cameron Feltham.

Mr Feltham said that it was an honour to restore Kaieta for future generations to enjoy.

“It is such a privilege to be a custodian of Kaieta given its history in the Taringa and Toowong areas,” he said.

Kaieta will be fully renovated and restored before being sold as part of Oakman Residences, a development of 17 executive townhouses now under construction at the site.